READER’S CORNER: Costco the real plastic bag pioneer, not Sobeys

Recently, Sobeys head office announced it will discontinue plastic takeout bags at all its stores across Canada and replace them with paper bags in the new year, at a fee, of course.

In its news release, Sobeys portrays itself as a hero in the war against plastic carryout bags. Au contraire! Other grocery chains have tried to slow the use of plastic bags for a few years now, by charging a five-cent fee for each bag used. That, in itself, is a bit of a farce as a mere five cents is no real deterrent — most folks will not bend over to pick up a nickel off the sidewalk.

If you want to see a real hero in the takeout bag problem, look at Costco. It has never offered any type of takeout bag — plastic or paper. Customers must bring their own bags, buy reusable ones in-store or simply carry purchases loose to their cars. And guess what? Nobody complains.

Costco is just doing what every other chain store should do: getting rid of all takeout bags and getting people to think in terms of reusable bags, every single day, at every single store. That’s how we’ll win the war against pollution.